BISMARCK, N.D. >> A North Dakota congressman says White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s remarks about Adolf Hitler and Syrian President Bashar Assad are “not without some validity.”

But Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer says he wasn’t trying to excuse Spicer’s remarks, which he called “a bad illustration” and “stupid.”

Spicer was widely criticized after Tuesday’s White House briefing when he told reporters that Hitler “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” Critics noted the remark ignored Hitler’s use of gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust, and Spicer apologized.

Cramer commented on Spicer’s remarks Wednesday in an interview with Scott Hennen, a conservative radio host in North Dakota.

Later, Cramer told The Associated Press he thinks Spicer meant to say “Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons in warfare … which is technically true.”

Cramer, in his third term, is seen as a potential challenger to Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp next year.